When your house is a cluttered mess, it can be overwhelming knowing where to start clearing clutter in your home. My guess is, you have a messy bedroom too. I know I did!
Declutter your bedroom first
Your bedroom is your place to relax and let go of stress. It is where you can disconnect from the world and finally rest. It is also YOUR mess, well half of it is your mess.
The best advice I received when starting my own decluttering challenge was to start with my own mess.
It is so much easier to move on to other areas of the house when you have set a good example for your family and talk to your kids about minimalism. Since I share a bedroom with my sweet, dear (hoarding) husband, I had to be delicate.
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How to Declutter Your Bedroom:
Bring out your giveaway box (or bag)
When you start the decluttering process, create yourself a giveaway box, or in my case, a giveaway bag.
When it comes out, people know stuff is going to the “giveaway store”. I think it brings a certain level of comedic panic to my sweet family. You can pile a lot of stuff into one of those bags.
You will also need a trash bag for any items that do not make the cut in your decluttering process.
First, declutter your bedroom closet, your side only
Start with your side of the closet when you first start to declutter your bedroom. This is your stuff.
There are no battles over what to keep or what to get rid of. You are your own worst enemy.
Assess the number of clothes, shoes, scarves, accessories and any other random items that are being stored in your closet. Decide what to keep and what to toss.
I recommend creating a capsule wardrobe. This will help you weed out the items you no longer need or want.
Then create a closet organization system for your hanging clothes that
I like to hang my clothes by type, with the longest and bulkiest items on the left and flowing up towards the right.
For example, I hang my dresses and blazers on the left. I then hang my dress pants, followed by my dress shirts. This makes picking out an outfit so much faster.
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Pick up all items off the floor
This seems obvious, but many times certain items find permanent places on the floor of your bedroom, which can make it look messy even after you have cleaned up.
After a time, you forget these items are even there. You start to believe the spot on the floor is where an item belongs.
Look for books, papers, things stored behind your nightstand. Clear the floors in your closet except for shoes or other items that are purposefully placed there.
Once you have removed the items from the floor, find their very specific and permanent home.
The items may go on a shelf, or they may purposefully go under your bed. Determine if the item even needs to be in your bedroom.
Make your bedroom your relaxing domain. Don’t let work or other stressful items clutter your peaceful space.
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Remove all items from under the bed
The space under your bed is not a free-for-all storage unit.
Give yourself peace knowing when you lay in bed every night that you can actually name what is stored under your bed. Better yet, completely clear it out.
I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to have nothing stored under the bed.
However, I have lived in small spaces before. I know that sometimes that is your only option. If this is the case, be purposeful about what is stored there.
Don’t just cram things under there because you don’t want to deal with them or find a home for them.
Related post: How to Create a Minimalist Bedroom (That’s Not Boring)
Create a clothing hamper solution (and hang up your clothes)
Most people have a hamper. Not everyone uses them on a regular basis. This goes back to clearing your floor space.
When you take off your clothes, take the extra ten seconds to put them in a hamper. Even if you have a small bedroom and your hamper is in the middle of your floor space, the room will look so much nicer if your clothes all make it to the hamper.
If you try on clothes in the morning and change your mind, make sure they get back to the hangers.
Hey, I’ve run late before too. I get it. Worse case, at least hang them up as soon as you get home. The best solution, pick out your clothes the night before and have your outfit hanging together in the closet.
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Declutter your dresser drawers
After you clean out your closet, you have a great head-start on the rest of your wardrobe. Hopefully, you are starting to feel inspired and motivated to keep going!
Go through each of your dresser drawers, one by one, and declutter them.
Get rid of socks you no longer wear. Toss the underwear you would be embarrassed for anyone to ever see and that has been hiding at the back of your drawers for years. You deserve to be pretty underneath!
Take a good look at your pajamas. Don’t settle for clothes you tossed thinking they would become loungewear.
If you don’t like to wear an item outside of the home, chances are you don’t like to wear it at home either.
You have my permission to get rid of it! Try to get all of your pajamas to fit into one drawer. If you have small drawers, no more than two.
Related Post: Declutter Your Socks!
Declutter and clear the top of your dresser and chest of drawers
Remove everything from all flat surfaces when you declutter your bedroom. After everything has been removed, be purposeful about what goes back on top of the dresser and table surfaces.
There are some minimalists out there who say all surfaces should be 100% clear.
I experienced this once when our house was listed for sale. It was awful. The place felt sterile. There was no life left in our home.
So, I put my pretty picture frame back on the dresser. I also left a figurine that made me think of my sister and my two girls each time I saw it. These items make me happy.
Be intentional about what you look at every day. Pick items that make you smile.
Jewelry, wallet, odds and ends
After decluttering our bedroom dresser drawers, we ended up with a couple of empty ones. We used this opportunity to find a place for all our odds and ends.
My husband got his own drawer and I got my own drawer.
For my drawer, I added a jewelry divider I found at TJ Max and placed all the jewelry I decided to keep in there. I also used the extra compartments in the divider to house any odds and ends that were normally left on top of the dresser.
Find a place for everything that belongs in your bedroom and find a place that is ideally out of sight (at least if the purpose of the item is not to look at every day).
Remember, if it doesn’t really belong in your bedroom, find a specific place for the item somewhere else in your home.
Declutter your nightstand
Make your nightstand an inviting area.
I used to get so mad when I would wake up in the middle of the night and then accidentally knock something off of the nightstand because of all the clutter I had on it.
I now have a small clock radio (I know, prehistoric, but I like it), a lamp, my water, and my phone. That’s it.
If I am reading a book, I will usually keep it in my nightstand drawer or will tuck it right under the bed on my side.
Create a charging station that works
Be purposeful with everything in your bedroom, including your charging station.
This is such a personal choice for so many people, but moving your charging station outside of your bedroom can help you if you also feel addicted to your phone.
If you use your devices for work, I highly recommend charging them outside of the bedroom.
The bedroom should be your place to rest and relax. Don’t let work barge in on your peacefulness. Sleep is so important, and the work will still be there in the morning.
If you get good sleep, you will be so much better prepared to handle a crazy day!
Related Post: End Feeling Addicted to Your Phone
Keep items out that don’t belong when you declutter your bedroom
Make your bedroom your happy place. Don’t let another person’s clutter enter.
Once I decluttered our bedroom, I made a clear rule with my children. No toys allowed. Toys are not allowed in mommy’s room, ever.
It sounds mean, but they have their own space, which usually is the rest of the house. This is my space. Don’t touch it.
I also try to keep laundry out of my room unless I am actively folding it on the bed and plan to put it away. I don’t want it sitting on my bed or my floors mocking me and making me feel like a failure.
Respect your partner’s time to adjust
When you decide to declutter your bedroom and the rest of your home, remember this is your project and your journey. Unless they signed up to take on the challenge with you, it will take some time to adjust. The bedroom is also their space.
Start with just your stuff. Inevitably, you will run into their stuff. Try to create their space where they can continue to live like they do (slobs).
Initially, I got really mad at my husband when he didn’t pick up and adhere to the “no stuff left on the floor” rule. However, I had to keep reminding myself he didn’t just decide overnight to declutter the house. That was me!
So, when he left clothes on the floor, I picked them up and put them in the hamper.
I created his own knick-knacks dresser drawer. Usually, it looks crazy in there, but it is hidden so I had to let it go.
Eventually, my husband came to prefer the clean space. He works really hard now to keep it that way.
He even pulls the covers back when he gets out of the bed last. It may not be made up the way I would do it, but I appreciate his efforts.
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Maintenance
After you declutter your bedroom, you will begin to love your space. Keep the space inviting by maintaining it daily and weekly.
If I don’t do any other chores in a day or week, I always make my bedroom the first priority. This was not the case before.
I always worked on keeping the living room or kitchen clean. Not anymore. My bedroom gets my attention first.
Make your bed. Keep the floors clear. Keep the stuff that doesn’t belong in your bedroom out.
Related Post: How to Maintain a Clutter-Free Home
Enjoy your space!
After you declutter your bedroom, you may be inspired to take on the rest of the home.
Just remember it is a journey, and it takes time…a lot of time. That’s why I recommend starting with your bedroom.
No matter how overwhelming your day gets or how overwhelming the rest of the house looks, you have your special place to retreat. Enjoy your space.
Related Post:
How to create a minimalist bedroom (that’s not boring!)
Declutter to Drastically Reduce Anxiety and Stress
Are You or Your Partner Clutter Blind??
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Such wise advice to declutter the bedroom first! It’s often the last room to get attention because it’s less public, but you’ve made a great point that our personal and sleeping space does affect our stress levels. I like how you’ve addressed the issue of being sensitive to one’s spouse when tackling this shared space.
Thank you, Ksenia for the comment. Yes, when I went to declutter our bedroom, it was a bit of a battle in the beginning. Clothes on the floor, pockets emptied on the dresser top, etc. However, after a few months, he adapted to a clutter-free bedroom! 🙂 I love my husband for putting up with me and my overnight challenges to declutter! We aren’t minimalists by a long shot, but I love our house with less stuff in it.
Such a great post. You had me laughing and sighing with understanding:) And it’s so true, “Be intentional about what you look at every day. Pick items that make you smile.”
Thank you Miranda! I admittedly had a hard time when I first decided to declutter my bedroom. There were so many cute pictures! But I did narrow it down to just a few that made me happy.